Jakarta sinking fast, capital may be relocated

Jakarta, widely seen as the world's fastest sinking city, may soon no longer be Indonesia's capital, the country's planning minister announced this week.

Indonesia's Minister of National Development and Planning Board Chief Bamband Brodjonegoro said newly elected President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has decided to relocate the capital, although an alternative location has yet to be determined. Local media suggests Palangkaraya, on the island of Borneo about 860 miles northeast of Jakarta, is a frontrunner, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Widodo, who campaigned on a promise to spread economic development more evenly around the country and to address Jakarta's overpopulation, declared victory in the recent election, although official results will not be announced until May 22. His opponent also declared victory.

“We want to have a capital that represents the nation’s identity and improves the efficiency of the central government and establish a smart, green and beautiful city,” Bambang said, the Jakarta Post reported. “The capital relocation must serve the strategic vision of our long-term development agenda.”

Should the move become a reality, it won't be immediate and could take up to 10 years, CNN reports. It will also take an estimated $23 to $33 billion dollars to move the capital, build new infrastructure and relocate civil servants from Jakarta.

Another impetus for the move, although not specifically cited as a reason by Widodo, is the fact that Jakarta, located on the country's most populated island of Java, is sinking at an alarming rate.

About half of Jakarta's metropolis now lies beneath sea level, and several districts, including Muara Baru, have sunk as much as 14 feet in recent years, the New York Times has reported.

Heri Andreas, an expert in Jakarta's land subsidence at the Bandung Institute of Technology says most of northern Jakarta will be under water within the next 30 years.

"If we look at our models, by 2050, about 95 percent of North Jakarta will be submerged," Andreas told NPR.

The subsidence is attributed to overconsumption of groundwater. New Orleans is paying attention to this development, I hope.

PaulN

Re: Jakarta sinking fast, capital may be relocated

All these sinking cities have to grasp the reality that we humans cannot tamper with hydrological forces too much. At some point, we need undeveloped undrained wetlands, rivers that naturally deposit silt at the end of their courses, and reasonable moisture levels in spongy soils. Even wealthy nations like The Netherlands will eventually have to move people to higher ground.